The day started on a good note. When I stopped at the icehouse, I only had to buy one bag of ice since the bulk chute filled my cooler for free. The extra bag was used to keep our drinks cold. Shrimp was tough to find, but the Ft. Pierce City Marina came through with plenty of bait to get us going.

We left the marina around 7:30 a.m. and headed toward the boils. Along the way, we spotted diving birds and bait splashing on the surface, so we stopped to give it a try. It was a great chance to break in my new rod. Tania dropped a line straight down and caught the first fish of the day, an 8-inch croaker. Shortly after, we hooked into a sail catfish, which put up a fun fight before being released.

By 8 a.m., we were on the boils, but after 30 minutes of no bites and seeing no one else catching either, I decided to make a move. We ran north to a reef about 35 minutes away, and that call made all the difference.

We started drifting, but the current and wind pushed us too fast to hold bottom. After setting the anchor, everything changed. From 9:15 to 11:00 a.m., the bite was on fire. We boated 40–50 snapper along with countless blue runners. Mixed in with the action, Tania landed a soapfish, a rare catch that made for a neat surprise. Of the snapper, 14 lane snappers in the 9–10-inch range came home with us, filling the cooler perfectly for fish tacos I’ll be cooking tomorrow.

The wind picked up while we were on the reef, making things a little sporty, and by the time we wrapped up, I was definitely feeling it, reminding me I’m not as young as I once was. Still, with a cooler full of snapper, a rare catch for the memory books, and breaking in a new rod alongside Tania, it was a great day on the water.

Tania and I send our best wishes to all fellow anglers. May your fishing adventures be safe, blessed, and filled with tight lines and good times! Until next time, keep casting and chasing those dreams on the water.